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Gan Zu-wang, born in 1912 in Jinshan, Shanghai, is a professor at the Jiangsu Provincial Chinese Medicine Institute and one of the founders of Chinese medicine otorhinolaryngology. He is a member of the Otolaryngology Professional Committee of the Chinese Medicine Association and specializes in treating various difficult and complicated diseases in otorhinolaryngology.

In Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, many people know of a "book champion," a title awarded in 1990 after a competition among hundreds of candidates, judged by cultural figures in Jiangsu Province. This champion is the renowned Chinese medicine professor Gan Zu-wang from the Jiangsu Provincial Chinese Medicine Institute.

I have read many books since I was young, one of which is called "Famous Doctors' Gardens." This book gave an example of a person who was afraid of cold; taking hot medicine made him worse, but cold medicine cured him. Later, I encountered a young man with a seven-year history of illness, needing several quilts in winter and still feeling extremely cold. He came to see me for deafness. I told him, "I will not only treat your deafness but also try to cure your cold intolerance." He agreed. Unlike others who use hot medicine for cold diseases, I used ice, and the disease was cured. This knowledge came from reading books. How would you know without reading?

I planned to study at the Shanghai Fine Arts School near Liu Hai Chestnut, but a neighbor older than me was urged by his father to study Chinese medicine, which he refused. Half a month before I went to Shanghai to study, we sat together chatting. He said his English was good but he knew nothing about Chinese medicine. I said, "It's a pity, knowing you came back from abroad, drawing would suit you. If I were to study Chinese medicine, it would be better." He said, "If I were to study drawing, it would be better." So we swapped, and I ended up studying Chinese medicine.

In 1951, Gan Zu-wang ended his private medical practice and joined the Fourth United Clinic in Jinshan County, Shanghai. There, he discovered that Western medicine had many scientific methods and tools for disease diagnosis that were more advanced than Chinese medicine. This opened the eyes of the enthusiastic rural doctor, and he began using Western medical examination glasses. In 1953, Gan Zu-wang resolutely went to the Second Hospital of the Central Authorities in Beijing, becoming the first Chinese medicine physician to specialize in Western otorhinolaryngology.

Diseases of the nose and ears were known to our ancestors and are part of the treasure trove of Chinese medicine. Throat diseases, however, were not; Chinese medicine considered the pharynx as the throat. Previously, there was no otolaryngology in Chinese medicine. Even now, the little that exists is hardly usable. My approach is to use Western medicine to expose all diseases, treating them as surgical conditions, and then apply Chinese surgical theories and techniques to extend to otolaryngology. I treat them using Chinese surgical methods.

In 1956, Gan Zu-wang published China's first "Chinese Otorhinolaryngology." In 1987, the National Chinese Otorhinolaryngology Association was established, and he became its first president. In practice, Gan Zu-wang advocates for the advanced diagnostic methods of Western medicine but emphasizes that treatment should prioritize the dialectical approach of Chinese medicine.

For example, in examining small blood vessels under the throat, Chinese medicine identifies symptoms: dilated small vessels indicate heart fire; atrophied mucous membranes indicate spleen deficiency; overall congestion indicates wind-heat; phlegm stuck inside indicates phlegm heat. Without true Chinese medicine, these symptoms cannot be discerned. Only by using Chinese medicine can these conditions be identified.

Gan Zu-wang's surname is Gan, and his small, thin body is indeed quite lean, but his entire being radiates a "vitality, energy, and spirit" that sharply contrasts with his age and physique. Nearly 90 years old, Gan Zu-wang is quick-witted and humorous in conversation, and many of the patients he has cured have become regular visitors to his home.

Gan Zu-wang's life was intertwined with books—reading, collecting, teaching, and writing. It is no exaggeration to describe him as having a body of work as tall as himself. When it comes to his contributions to Chinese medicine, he truly deserves the title of "a scholar of great reputation renowned worldwide, the foremost figure in otolaryngology."